Teel Time: O-line coach Newsome realizes Virginia Tech's season could hinge on his group

David Teel

Curt Newsome returned to Hampton on Wednesday, an annual rite for Virginia Tech’s offensive line coach that takes him to the state high school coaching clinic and to his boyhood haunts. Before roaming the Convention Center and schmoozing with prep and college colleagues, Newsome discussed the 2012 season.

Special teams and Newsome’s line figure to be the most dissected areas of the Hokies’ roster. If Tech can upgrade its kicking and find suitable replacements for four senior linemen, this could be a top-10, or better, squad.

Last season, the same five linemen – tackle Blake DeChristopher and Andrew Lanier, guards Greg Nosal and Jaymes Brooks and center Andrew Miller -- started all 14 games. DeChristopher won the ACC’s Jacobs Blocking Trophy, and Brooks was second-team all-conference.

Tailback David Wilson was the ACC Player of the Year, and the line allowed only 17 sacks in 14 games. The 1.2 sacks per game ranked 22nd nationally.

Newsome is a Phoebus High graduate and former head coach at Kecoughtan and Heritage. Here’s a transcript of our conversation.

QUESTION: Now that you’ve evaluated spring practice and let it marinate, what do you think?

NEWSOME: I saw us get better, and I like our athletic ability. You just wonder about lack of reps, how much actual time they’ve been on the field. But you look at them as a unit, they got better throughout the spring, a lot better in Week 4 than they were the first week.

I do like them. It’s hard any time you see an experienced group leave like we had. Overall, a year ago, that group was so experienced. … The way outsiders judge you as an offensive line is, we were second in the league in rushing to Georgia Tech and second in the league in giving up sacks to Georgia Tech, and Georgia Tech [option offense] majors in those two things. So it was a good year.

We had a good group. Very mature, great communicators. This group was around them, and I think with athletic ability, we have more. But, now putting it all together.

QUESTION: [Junior left guard] David Wang won a coach’s award during the spring. Was he your best?

NEWSOME: David may be as good fundamentally as I’ve been around. Getting him to play physical every single snap is (the challenge). But fundamentally, he’s special. … He actually would have rotated around the horn a year ago, and was rotating, and got hurt [broken foot] in the East Carolina game [Week 2] and we lost him for the season.

[Junior center] Andrew Miller played the entire season. He brings a toughness to the group, and as he gets older -- it was hard for him to step out and be a leader a year ago with all the experience around him. They were still telling him identifications up front, and he’s the guy that’s got to communicate them. That won’t happen anymore. He’s got that mentality, that toughness you’re looking for that kind of takes over a room. So I feel like he needs to be the leader of this group.

QUESTION: Your line has prototype size, except for [6-foot-1] Wang. Honey I shrunk the left guard.

NEWSOME: [Laughter]. He did not get his brother’s genes. When his brother [Ed was a 6-5 tackle who graduated from Tech in 2010] signed with Buffalo, he was he first player of Chinese descent to get drafted. His parents both were [Chinese] Olympians [both in track].

He can get by being 6-1 because of what he does fundamentally. He’s got exceptional feet, plays with an extremely wide base just naturally. Would you put him out there at left tackle? No. What you’re looking for with all that space, is long arms at that position. Well, you’re playing more in a phone booth inside, and to be 6-1 not a terrible thing. If he were 6-3 or 6-4, would his chances to play in the NFL increase? Yes.

QUESTION: The others are straight out of central casting in height and weight.

NEWSOME: We don’t any big, heavy, overweight guys. You’ve got [senior left tackle] Nick Becton, who’s got all the tools. He’s a 6-6 [328-pound] basketball player that can move his feet, can run.

Vinston Painter [a 6-6, 304-pound senior right tackle] hasn’t played yet. Hopefully the light went on some this spring. He ran 4.75 and benches something like 450, and can move.

[Sophomore right guard] Brent Benedict is a 6-5 guy that’s very athletic. Came in a little big [when he transferred] from Georgia. This summer he’s gotten down to 305.

Caleb Ferris [a 6-3 sophomore] is a guy that will battle Benedict. We’re going to move him over to guard. He’ll also be the backup center, but we’re going to get him reps, and he’ll be in a battle for a starting position [at right guard]. We were going to do that earlier, but Caleb got hurt in the spring and missed a couple days, and we just weren’t able to make that move.

QUESTION: So [sophomore guard] Laurence Gibson isn’t ready?

NEWSOME: Not ready, and he’s still got three to play. That’s one thing, the interior guys, you talk about Andrew Miller’s got two to play, but then David Wang’s got three to play [if the NCAA grants a medical hardship for last season], Matt Arkema’s got three to play, Ferris has three to play, Benedict’s got three to play. So you’ve got some youth inside.

Outside is where there are some issues. Can [sophomore] Mark Shuman come in and help us at tackle? Can he help us this season in spelling Becton and can he be ready to play the next year? And then you’ve got [redshirt freshman] Jake Goins.

QUESTION: How’s Michael Via’s knee [the 6-7 reserve played most of his junior year with a torn ACL and had offseason surgery]?

NEWSOME: He’s going extremely well right now. His summer workouts have been great. He’s gained weight. He’s good to enough to start. He started several games [in 2009] for us at center. He’s alternated at guard every third series with Jaymes Brooks a year ago. He can play tackle. He’s the guy we didn’t have this spring that really adds depth. He’ll be in a battle [with Painter] to start at [right] tackle, and if we feel like there’s a need somewhere else, and the other person isn’t getting it done, we’ll put him inside.

With Painter having the spring under his belt, he’s in the lead. But I don’t see Via watching too many of our games beside me. Smart guy, coach’s son. You talk about toughness now, played with a torn ACL the entire season. Wanted to do it. Asked if he could do it. Came to us and said, “I want to play.”

QUESTION: I remember seeing Painter when he was at Maury High in the playoffs against Hampton. He so much looked the part. What’s held him back? Technique?

NEWSOME: That has. You add the learning part. He’s changed positions. We had him inside, we had him outside. First of all, we had him on defense the first year. That was to get him, let’s learn to play physical. Because we thought if he was on offense, that slows your feet down. Let’s get him [to] play fast and physical. Fortunately for [the line] this year, he didn’t play completely fast and physical, or they would have kept him [on defense].

It’s been more from a technical standpoint than anything else. Fundamentals, just wide hands, not using his natural athletic ability, because he’s got more -- he’s who you draw up. I think he’s really excited about this season, and we’re excited about him. I think he’s getting ready to have a really good season, I really do. He worked hard this spring, he’s trying to be a leader and he’s had a great training program, and you could see him getting better throughout the spring. We need him to be good.

QUESTION: All this talk in the spring of the pistol and spreading [the offense] out, how will that impact your guys?

NEWSOME: The biggest thing we emphasized with the line this spring was playing harder, because we’ve got a group that doesn’t have a ton of experience, playing faster all the time. Whether you’re running the pistol or whatever, we’re still blocking the zone play to the right or the zone play to the left.

Now it’s a lot more complicated than that. But, it doesn’t have as big an effect on us, the motion or the alignment of the people behind us. … And that’s the bottom line for us, the formation or pace of play does not change the scheme. We’re doing some formation changes and pace of play changes, but that doesn’t change our part of it.

QUESTION: You’ve got No. 3 [Logan Thomas] at quarterback, odds are you’ll find a tailback, and you have some experience wideouts. Do you feel like, “Wow, if my guys can get it done, we’ve got a chance to be really good?”

NEWSOME: I look at every season like that. It just goes with the business. You’re so focused on that one room. But as far as an offense that just lost eight starters, I’m sure there are people in worse shape that lost eight starters. We’ve got some pieces. Will a lot of it come on our back? It does. But nobody puts more pressure on us than our room, me, those guys and [offensive coordinator Bryan] Stinespring.

But, I understand what you’re saying. We have a chance to be really good. Logan’s a special guy. In my time there, we’ve had Tyrod [Taylor] and Logan. If you can keep those guys upright, you’ve got a shot.

I can be reached at 247-4636 or by e-mail at dteel@dailypress.com. Follow me at twitter.com/DavidTeelatDP